The present invention relates to a printing machine having drums and, more particularly, to a printing machine having an ink bottle set-up unit to allow an ink bottle to be settled externally to the drum.
It has heretofore been proposed to use a stencil printing machine as a printing apparatus, wherein a stencil sheet is wound around a drum on the basis of image data, and a sheet of print paper is moved while it is urged toward the rotating drum to allow the image of an ink to be directly transferred to the print paper or, in an alternative way, a transfer drum is urged toward the rotating drum and is rotated such that an ink image is first transferred to the transfer drum and subsequently a sheet of print paper is urged toward the rotating transfer drum to transfer the ink image to the print paper. In such a stencil printing machine, it is a usual practice to have the printing machine equipped with an ink bottle set-up unit which serves as a source of an ink to supply the ink from an inner side of the drum. When, in this event, the drum is large in size and has an excessive space therein, the ink bottle set-up unit can be incorporated in the drum. When, however, the drum is small in size or when the drum is large in size but does not have an excessive space inside, the ink bottle set-up unit is installed outside the drum.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show a conventional stencil printing machine, which is investigated by the present inventor, of the type having an ink bottle set-up unit which is installed outside a drum. In FIG. 1, a body 100 of the printing machine incorporates therein a drum 102 supported by a drum support member 101. An outer periphery of the body 100 is covered with a body case 103, a part of which is formed with an opening 104. The drum support member 101 is freely moveable together with the drum 102 into or out from the body 100. When the drum 102 is held inside the body 100, an ink bottle set-up unit 105 is located in a space between the side periphery of the drum 102 and the opening 104.
The ink bottle set-up unit 105 is fixedly supported on the drum support member 101 and includes a head section 106 having an ink receptor port (not shown), and a cylindrical bottle guide 108 fixed to the drum support member 101 and having a bottle set-up chamber (which bears no reference numeral) to receive an ink bottle 107. The ink bottle 107 that has been inserted into the bottle set-up chamber (not shown) of the bottle guide 108 is freely moveable by actuating an actuating lever 109 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) between a bottle coupling position to allow an ink discharge spout (not shown) of the ink bottle 107 to be coupled to the ink receptor port (not shown) and a bottle uncoupling position to allow the ink discharge spout of the ink bottle 107 to be separated from the ink receptor port. The ink bottle 107 is configured to have a cylindrical shape, which lies sideward and close to the drum 102.
With such as structure, in order to replace the ink bottle 107 of the ink bottle set-up unit 105 with new one, it is required that the drum 102 is first pulled out together with the drum support member 101 from the body 100 of the printing machine as viewed in FIG. 1 and, secondly, the ink bottle 107 is moved from the bottle coupling position to the bottle uncoupling position by operating the actuating lever 109 as viewed in FIG. 2. Subsequently, the ink bottle 107 is removed from the bottle guide 108. Next, a new ink bottle 107 is inserted into the bottle set-up chamber (not shown) of the bottle guide 108 and the actuating lever 109 is operated such that the ink bottle 107 is moved from the bottle uncoupling position to the bottle coupling position. Finally, the drum support member 101 and the drum 102 are returned to the inside of the body 100, thereby completing a bottle replacement cycle.
In the conventional printing machine, however, it is required that the ink bottle 107 is replaced with new one by pulling out or inserting the heavy drum relative to the body 100 of the printing machine, causing a troublesome replacement work. Here, it is considered that the bottle set-up chamber (not shown) of the bottle guide 108 is designed to be aligned, to allow the ink bottle 107 to be inserted into or to be pulled out from the bottle set-up chamber, in the same direction (viz., on a concentric longitudinal axis with the drum 102) as that of the drum 102 to be pulled out or inserted into the body of the printing machine. When the ink bottle 107 is located in such a state relative to the drum 102, the printing machine is largely sized.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a printing machine which is compact in structure and which is easy for replacement of an ink bottle.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing machine which comprises a body having a moveable drum support member carrying thereon a drum, and an opening to allow the drum support member and the drum to be inserted into or pulled out from the body, and an ink bottle set-up unit located in a space between the opening of the body and the drum located on the drum support member. The ink bottle set-up unit includes a turn table rotatably mounted on the drum support member, and a bottle guide located on the turn table and having a bottle set-up chamber to receive an ink bottle. The turn table is freely rotatable between a bottle exchange position in which the ink bottle is allowed to be inserted into the bottle set-up chamber through the opening of the body, and a bottle receiving position in which the ink bottle set-up in the bottle set-up chamber is received in the space.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing machine which comprises a body having an opening, a drum support member carrying a drum thereon and moveably supported in the body for sliding movement through the opening between a printing position in which the drum is held inside the body and an inoperative position in which the drum is held outside the body, and an ink bottle set-up unit moveably supported on the drum support member. The ink bottle set-up unit includes a turn table rotatably mounted on the drum support member, a bottle guide supported on the turn table and having a bottle set-up chamber to receive an ink bottle, and ink bottle coupling means for enabling the turn table to move between a bottle exchange position in which the ink bottle is allowed to be inserted into the bottle set-up chamber, and a bottle receiving position in which the ink bottle is located in a set-up position to allow an ink to be supplied to the drum for printing.
Other aspect and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.